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Alternative Options
Some practice management system (PMS) vendors are not making all the changes
required to support HIPAA formats initially; rather, they are requiring
providers to use new clearinghouse services. If your PMS vendor is one of these,
please make sure you understand all the new incremental costs and implications
that you are facing. You do have some options to consider.
Our enterprise clearinghouse, Advanced Health
Information Network (AHIN), is available to convert your current electronic
claim format into the new standard format. Those providers that have not begun
testing by August 2003 will receive an enrollment form to use AHIN as your HIPAA
clearinghouse. Please complete and return this form promptly if you wish to use
that service. This service is offered free of charge for claims filed to
Arkansas Blue Cross, Health Advantage, BlueAdvantage Administrators, Medicaid
and Arkansas Medicare Parts A and B. AHIN will also accept claims being routed
to any other "Blue" plan at no cost. However, there is a 10-cent handling fee
per claim for any other commercial carrier.
In addition to AHIN, there are several proven vendor solutions that interact
with major PMS systems to generate HIPAA-formatted claims. In no particular
order, a few are:
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